The battle for dominance of the world’s trading exchanges intensified yesterday when Nasdaq OMX of New York unveiled an $11.3 billion bid for its rival NYSE Euronext, trumping an offer made in February by Deutsche Börse.

The Nasdaq offer, which comes amid a wave of consolidation among global stock exchanges, is expected to trigger an intense and politically charged battle for NYSE, as Nasdaq trumpets its US heritage and American politicians fret about the idea of control of their country’s oldest stock exchange passing into foreign hands.

Nasdaq has teamed up with America’s IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) to make the bid for